TC_08-17_OnlinEdition

By Bill Mack
By Bill Mack
I met Gene. I told him I was a big fan of
his singing and his movies. It delighted
me when he informed me I was his
favorite country singer!”
Speaking of movies, I’ll never forget
the night Marty called me informing
me he wanted me to fly to Nashville
and appear in a movie he was starring
in. He said, “Yeah, you’re gonna be a
big movie star, Bill!
I’ve got it set for you
to appear with me
in this movie they’re
making here in
Nashville! You’ll need
to take a week off
from your radio job
and fly down here.”
I had no problem
taking a week off. My
boss at the radio station was certain
the movie would allow me to become
a big name in Hollywood and an even
bigger name on his radio station. I flew
to Nashville, Marty met me at the airport
and shouted, “Hey! I’m taking you to
the movie set right now! Yep, you’re
gonna be a big movie star after this film
is finished!”
After arriving on the movie set,
Marty led me to go to the makeup room.
He said, “They’ll put a little makeup
on your handsome face and then I’ll
take you to the set and they’ll get the
movie camera rollin’ on your even more
handsome face!”
The makeup lady dabbed some stuff
on my face, then Marty guided me to
the set. The director, Bob Hinkle, took
my arm and led me to a chair located
The movie, “Country
Music,” was released by
Universal Pictures in 1972.
Although it was a bomb at
the box-office, I’ll always
appreciate Marty’s efforts
to make me a movie star.
behind a desk with two microphones
attached to the top of it. He said, “In this
film, you’re going to play yourself. You’ll
pretend to be doing a radio show. Marty
will drop by with his guitar and surprise
you. You’ll welcome him to your show.
Then, he’ll seat himself in a chair next to
the other microphone and volunteer to
sing a song for you and your listeners.
He’ll ask you what
song you want him
to sing and you’ll
say you want to hear
‘The Hand You’re
Holding Now’. He’ll
sing it … then he’ll
get up from the chair
and leave. Got that?”
I said, “Yes. Is
there a script for
me?”
Bob laughed and replied, “No. It’ll
be more normal for you to just ad-lib
through your part, just like you do on
radio. Just take a deep breath and
relax.”
Shortly after I was seated behind
a microphone, the heavy voice of
Bob Hinkle shouted: “Action!” I began
ad-libbing something in the microphone
when, suddenly, Marty ran on the set
holding his guitar. I looked around and
shouted, “Marty Robbins is here, folks!”
Marty bowed, created a big smile and
yelled, “It’s good to be with you on your
radio show, Bill!”
Marty then rushed toward me, shook
my hand and sat down in the chair
close to the other microphone. Then, he
clutched his guitar and began singing
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